This Week in Kansas City History
A Man, A Plan, and A Lot of Concrete
June 9, 1933: The Jackson County Court awards a $2,073,609 contract to the Swenson Construction Company for the Jackson County Courthouse, a part of the “Ten Year Plan” to improve Kansas City.
Mothers of Mercy
June 1, 1897: Dr. Alice Berry Graham rescues a crippled child whose mother is trying to give her away, inspiring Graham and sister Dr. Katharine Berry Richardson to found Children’s Mercy Hospital.
Dr. Hyde and Mr. Swope
May 16, 1910: Doctor Bennett Clark Hyde is found guilty of murder after philanthropist Thomas H. Swope and several of his family members die following Hyde’s purchase of cyanide capsules and test tubes of typhoid cultures.
A Man of Many Parts
March 15, 1858: Lafayette Tillman, who will go on to become a veteran of the Spanish-American War and one of Kansas City's first African American police officers, is born in Evansville, Indiana.
Hail to the Chief
May 8, 1974: H. Roe Bartle, a charismatic Boy Scout executive, public speaker, lawyer, and two-term mayor of Kansas City, dies in Kansas City.
